Now, That’s Funny
Trainer Rick Dutrow on racing’s shady side: “Sometimes I get beat in races, and I know something wasn’t done right. I know they can’t beat us fairly. It aggravates me. I don’t ever say anything, but I know they got over.”
Biancone Suspended
The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority has slapped trainer Patrick Biancone with a one year suspension for possession of three vials of cobra venom (DRF). Scheduled to start on October 15, the suspension won’t impede Biancone’s saddling of likely favorite Irish Smoke in today’s Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland, where Biancone was leading trainer last spring. And according to attorney Frank Becker, Biancone plans to appeal the suspension, which means horses could be running under his name in the Breeders’ Cup. Well, that’ll look terrific on World Championship Day.
Biancone was issued additional suspensions, which KHRA will allow him to serve concurrently, for possessing other illegal substances, not properly labeling medications, and not reporting that his veterinarian, Dr. Rod Stewart, possessed cobra venom. (Stewart was given a five year suspension for that violation in September.) Among the other illegal substances and improperly labeled medications mentioned in the full KHRA ruling (PDF) were sodium bicarbonate and one “injectable bottle of unknown brown honey-colored liquid marked ‘For Mythical Echo Only’ …”
When Biancone does start his suspension, he won’t be able to transfer horses to an assistant trainer or a relative for training or derive any income from his barn, as often happens in these cases, in accordance with Kentucky’s tough new medication rules (KHRA).
Update 10/11/07: Biancone has been granted a stay of suspension until his appeal can be heard (ESPN).
Biancone Barn Searched
Blood-Horse broke the story this afternoon that trainer Patrick Biancone’s Keeneland barn has been searched by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, which has opened an investigation:
John Veitch, chief steward for the KHRA, would not comment June 26 on the nature of the investigation or whether the search yielded anything illegal or that violates state racing regulations. Veitch said the search was conducted by KHRA personnel June 22, but also would not say what led to the search.
No comment from Biancone, currently the seventh-leading trainer at Churchill Downs with 11 wins from 50 starters this spring.
The Thoroughbred Times offers this bit of background on Biancone:
Biancone, 55, began training in the United States in 2000 after he was suspended for ten months in Hong Kong for drug positives in two horses. The Hong Kong Jockey Club also fined him in 1997 after a banned substance was found in more than 20 of his horses.
The Times also notes that the California Horse Racing Board filed a complaint against the trainer after his runner Iron Butterfly tested positive for Salmeterol following a second-place finish at Santa Anita on Janauary 7. An asthma medication, Salmeterol is used to treat recurring airway obstruction in horses and is listed as a Class III drug.
Update: Daily Racing Form reports that KHRA searched three of Biancone’s barns and his veterinarian’s truck on Friday.
Pletcher Fined, Suspended
Trainer Todd Pletcher has been fined $3,000 and suspended for 45 days by the New York stewards for a drug positive from last summer (ESPN). Tales of Glory won an allowance race at Saratoga last August and tested positive for mepivacaine, an anesthetic that has “a high potential to affect performance.” Pletcher has appealed the ruling. Whispers about the use of performance enhancing substances have long dogged the trainer, and this positive, which is Pletcher’s first, will give gossips plenty to talk about. It’s unlikely there’ll be much other fallout. As Alan notes over on Left at the Gate, trainer Richard Dutrow was sanctioned for a similar offense and,
As we’ve seen, that action hasn’t taken any wind out of Dutrow’s sails. In fact, nor has it seemed to do anything whatsoever to tarnish his reputation. He’s still spoken of highly, and he apparently isn’t losing any prominent horses that I know of.
If the appeal fails, Pletcher’s 2004 Saratoga record will be changed to 34 wins. He won 35 at the meet in 2003.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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